BALTIMORE  The controversy swirling around Curt Schilling's bloody sock from the 2004 postseason was resolved Thursday, and as it turns out, teammate Doug Mirabelli doesn't think Schilling is a fraud.

Gary Thorne, the Baltimore Orioles' TV play-by-play announcer who said that Schilling's bloody sock was paint and not blood, said there was a breakdown in communications with his source, Boston Red Sox catcher Mirabelli. Thorne's comments came during Wednesday's broadcast of the Orioles-Red Sox game on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.

"I heard one thing, and he said something else," Thorne said before Thursday night's Red Sox-Orioles game at Camden Yards. "I reported what I heard and what I honestly felt was said. Having talked with him (Thursday), there's no doubt in my mind that's not what he said; that's not what he meant."

Mirabelli said that he and Thorne talked Thursday to clear the confusion: "We're both at an understanding what he thought I said was false. He knows now that I believe 100% that I thought the sock has blood."

Schilling, a pitching hero when the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, had blood on his right sock during Game 6 of the American League Championship Series vs. the New York Yankees and again in World Series Game 2 against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The blood was a result of sutures that were stitched into Schilling's right ankle to hold the tendons together.

Then-Red Sox team doctor Bill Morgan, who performed the experimental procedure, said the accusation was "hard to fathom."

"Obviously, we put sutures in Curt Schilling's ankle right before he went out to pitch in a professional-level baseball game," Morgan said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.

"Sutures will pull with movement, and we completely expected a certain amount of blood to ooze from the wound. Socks are like sponges, and even a small amount of blood can soak a sock."

Baltimore's Kevin Millar, who played for the 2004 Red Sox, told the AP, "It was 100% blood, no doubt about it. Why are we even talking about this?"

One of the socks is on display at the Hall of Fame.

In Wednesday's telecast, Thorne said during the fifth inning: "The sock was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it. It was all for PR."

Schilling had no comment.

Mirabelli said that in the Red Sox's clubhouse, anything short of family is "open territory" for ribbing. He said that if Thorne heard something inside the clubhouse, it was unfortunate.

Mirabelli said that he didn't know who Thorne was and that he had to look up his picture in the media guide to find out.

"He feels bad about it," Mirabelli said. "I think he knows he made a mistake. He told me he was going to do the best he can to clear it up."

The broadcast's analyst, Orioles Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, said the broadcast was complimentary to Schilling and that Thorne was not trying to insult Schilling.

Thorne's claim about Schilling's sock was edited out in MASN's re-broadcast of the live coverage.

Jeff Idelson, vice president of communications for the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., said there was no reason to doubt Schilling.

"He's got great respect for the history of the game," Idelson said. "He is cognizant of his role in it as a premier player. We have the utmost respect for him.

"When he offered the sock to us, we took it gladly. If you come to Cooperstown and see the sock on display, you'll see the red splotches have turned brown, which happens to blood over time."

Idelson said that after the Red Sox won the Series, he asked Schilling for the special-made shoe that allowed him to pitch. "He said, 'Absolutely you can have the spikes. Would you like the sock as well? We said we'd love to have it."

Schilling's in-laws drove the sock from Boston to Cooperstown in the offseason, Idelson said.

Thorne is a commentator for ABC/ESPN, a veteran hockey and baseball announcer and a former assistant district attorney. He also writes a column for USATODAY.com.

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Orioles TV announcer Gary Thorne had claimed Boston backup catcher Doug Mirabelli told him that Curt Schilling painted the sock red as a public relations stunt during the 2004 postseason. Thorne backed away from the comment after speaking with Mirabelli.

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